Taylor Reed, a sophomore communication studies major in Meadows School of the Arts, has been named one of the top two national winners of the 2011 PRWeek Student of the Year competition. Reed received an honorable mention and $1,000. The awards were announced at the annual PRWeek Awards dinner and ceremony March 10 in New York City.

The competition invites undergraduates from any academic area to create a communications campaign around a brand or company that demonstrates the student’s writing ability, planning skills, strategic approach and creativity. Reed’s concept for SanDisk Corporation – “Life’s extreme. Shouldn’t your photos be, too?” – was designed to target the campaign’s college-student demographic by appealing to a love of extreme sports indicated by research. Reed completed her campaign as part of required coursework for an Introduction to Public Relations class taught by Christy Baily-Byers, APR. Read more from SMU News.

Brittany Levingston, a first-year premajor in English in Dedman College, won the top novice of the year at the 36th Mid-America Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) Championships Tournament March 12-14 in Kansas City. The competition is the oldest and most prestigious novice and junior varsity national tournament in the nation. The award recognizes the top novice from the entire year of debate activity across the nation. CEDA is the largest college policy debate community in the United States.

SMU had the largest squad of novice teams at this year’s national tournament with four novice teams. The University’s debate teams are coached by Tim Glass, director Ben Voth and assistant director Chris Salinas. The debate program is part of the Communication Studies division in Meadows School of the Arts. In 2010, Salinas received the Dick Stine coaching award for the top JV coach of the year at the tournament. Read more from SMU News.